You've stumbled upon an enamored, but labored and coarse journal on the bed of a Jungle floor. Hearing the roars of the Dinosaurs () around you, how will you take shelter and protect yourself?
There seems to be all sorts of creatures surrounding you, traces of Portcullis Vine block damn near every path. The Twists and Turns
of the heavily dense trees make navigating almost impossible, and Exploration was never really.. your strong suit. Alas, you must make way, so you Enter the Unknown.
Having only a Trusty Machete that is viable for slicing this thicket, your thoughts are slowly shifting away from tranquility, away from adventure. The stomps of nearby, assumedly oversized lizards are starting to take their toll. It's become imperative that you find shelter.
Running for Cover
-
You narrowly dodge the Blight Mamba but a few feet from you, because you were too busy looking up at an Arboreal Grazer in the Canopy above, seeing how it ushers it's young away from the growing thuds, as you had started to do just moments ago. Luckily, You Happen on a Glade. What to do next plagues you, and how best to proceed could prove fatal. For is this really a reprieve, or have you stumbled upon the Stomping Ground?
-
Do you risk calling out for help, to anyone who could be near, ..or does that just ring the dinner bell..? At this time, one would guess it's best not to draw attention. You hear a very fast shuffling tearing through the brush just 10 feet ahead of you, a cold sweat developing. Without so much as a warning, the brush ahead of you gives way as large scale creatures Ram Through.
The Panic
-
Just as you catch a breath, you note that it's a group of Nest Robbers emerging from the brush, having been the rascal culprits of the shuffling. You just about shit yourself as the creature dashes off, clenching a Dinosaur Egg. Things are starting to seem.. desperate. What are you going to do?
-
Would an Elvish Mystic take pity on you? Unlikely.. everyone knows the tale of how Elves will break a bone in your body for every twig you snap underfoot in their territory, or so the saying goes. Nonetheless, the stomping.. continues
-
Taking stock of a clearing along some Wooded Foothills, you see a magnificent rock formation and how it looms a thousand feet above your head, impeding your vision directly to the sun. It's when you peak at the cave below that you develop the slightest sigh of relief.
-
The underbelly has a slight opening along it's base, and you can see a way in. Yet.. you are still hearing the growing, thunderous stomps. The sound is getting to a level that is causing a vibration within your chest. This is getting bad.
-
You jump forward into the Cavern, and realize this may end up being just a Deserted Temple, or an Ancient Tomb. Just as you believe things could not get any worse, the thunderous stomps seem to crash, crash, CRASH, CRASH.. and then..
..nothing.
Setting up the Site
Even though it's not ideal, you have a Glowcap Lantern set up alongside your gear; an Explorer's Scope, a Bone Saw crafted from some scrounged materials, a Utility Knife, which, alongside some other assorted Adventuring Gear, gives you a small measure of comfort once you've detailed inventory.
You use your Grappling Hook as a make-shift perimeter around base camp, which isn't saying a lot since you're only able to carry Fifty Feet of Rope. You craft a Blazing Torch to minimize the chances of being made a meal by Lurking Predators.
Underneath pale light in an otherwise dreary, Drowned Catacomb you unfold the shambled journal and try to read the inscriptions..
Paleontologist Log: ~9`6:39 a.~~,
-"~~~nspor~ted.. not entirely sure where, distraught, raining, suddenly early in the morning and so humid, practically soaked through my clothes and the wildlife sounds around me guarantee m~ ~ ~ ~~\ \ .." ~~ ~
Paleontologist Log: ~~`\34 ~.m.,
Midday
-"..the discovery of this temple after the whirlwind provided me with cover, it's cooler than the temperatures outside and also, quieter. At least immediately more quiet, considering how quickly one notices the amount of beady, bright eyes in the corridors looking back at you.."
..the next few columns of text are scratched, illegible and smeared by some muted, Crimson substance than penetrates through the page.
something is running the ink on the next page, rainwater that had previously been exposed to the lines along the page, scrawled out is something shoddy..
..~~..eware ~he ~~eadmaw, ~~n, don~ tak~ ~~~s, ~~.UN.!
..the remainder of the pages seem torn away, cleaved with a sheared edge.
